The ISM Manufacturing PMI for September advanced to 56.2 after scoring 55.7 points in August. This is well into growth territory and the highest level since April 2011. A drop was expected. The accompanying comments were upbeat, and talked of a pickup in activity.
The upbeat figure gives the US dollar the much needed fuel for a recovery, after being hit by the US government shutdown.
Earlier, the final figure for Markit’s manufacturing PMI remained unchanged at 52.8 points, as expected. ISM’s numbers carry more weight.
The new orders component and the employment component both remained at high levels. It will be interesting to see if we will see a drop in October due to the shutdown.
ISM is a private institute. However, the US was also scheduled to release the construction spending figure. This did not happen due to the shutdown.
EUR/USD dropped but keeps a safe distance from 1.35. USD/JPY is above 98 and GBP/USD fell below the 1.62 it conquered beforehand.
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